


the spice of life

by orphan_account



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang hates sea-prunes, Aang is a Mom Friend, Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, Sokka has no spice tolerance, based on that one tumblr showerthoughts post, carbonation is the spicy of air, ginger and cinnamon are the spicy of earth, neither does Toph but she won't let that stop her, peppers are the spicy of fire, the four kinds of spicy, vinegar is the spicy of water
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:01:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26166067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A look at how each of the four nations season their food, and the Gaang's experiences with it.Featuring: Sokka with no spice tolerance, Toph and Sokka competing to see who can burn out their taste buds first, concerned Mom-Friend!Aang, and an overabundance of the words "heat, spice and spicy". Also, Zuko should never be allowed to cook, but not for the reasons you might think.
Relationships: Aang & Bumi, Aang & Gyatso, Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang & Sokka, Aang & Toph, Aang & Zuko, Aang/Katara (Avatar), Toph & Sokka
Comments: 37
Kudos: 174





	1. I (Water)

The first time Aang tried Watertribe cuisine, or more precisely, normal food made by someone from the Watertribe, his mouth waters from all the salt and vinegar. 

Katara and Sokka tear into the meal like the salt is nothing, like their mouths aren’t crying from the vinegar’s sour bite. And they probably aren’t affected at all, having eaten food like this their entire lives. But Aang, who is used to the delicate sweetness of fruit, and the light, even tones of vegetables, with mild seasonings, tastes it and blanches. He manages to hide his gag at the vinegar, which he hadn’t been expecting. Honestly though— why would Katara put straight vinegar on the vegetables? 

Katara hasn't done a  _ bad  _ job with the food though, everything is cooked well, and Aang knows that she'd be very sad if he didn't eat, so he grins, and scoops the salty, vinegar seasoned rice and vegetables into his mouth. He'll get used to Watertribe food eventually.

Except for the stewed sea prunes that Bato makes for them, when they run into him. There is no way Aang will ever get used to those. In fact, after trying them Aang vows to never eat a stewed sea prune again, for as long as he lives.


	2. II (Earth)

Earth kingdom food isn't spicy, Aang decides, but it gets close. 

It took him time, but he got used to Katara's liberal use of salt and vinegar in their meals. However, he'd been used to the special tang of Earth kingdom cooking long before he'd ever tried Watertribe food. 

The Earth kingdom likes, well, earthy flavors. They eat a lot of mushrooms, and they have a few special spices that he’s not really tasted anywhere else.There's a particular root that they use in most of their meals—ginger, he thinks it's called, and it burns on your tongue, a dry fire that is more a peppery sweetness, a burn of it’s essence rather than heat. They also use a particular kind of powder, called cinnamon, which is fine until you eat too much of it. Then it crushes and overwhelms your tastebuds, like getting caught in a rockslide.

Bumi had thought it was funny to add as much of these spices as he could get away with to Aang's plate during meals. As a result, while Aang still preferred his light and fruity dishes, ginger doesn’t bother him anymore. He’d actually liked cinnamon so much that he’d brought some back with him to the Southern Air Temple. Gyatso had loved using it in his fruit pies. 

Sokka, on the other hand, is bothered by both ginger and cinnamon. A lot. Aang first noticed Sokka’s inability to tolerate the spices while they were staying on Kyoshi Island. He’d been trying to eat as many of the pastries as he could get away with— he’d missed having fruit dearly while traveling, and it was nice to taste that familiar sweetness again— when he’d seen Sokka’s face start to turn a fetching shade of pink.

“Sokka, are you alright?” he asked, concerned for his friend. Sokka had nodded, eyes watering.

Sokka swallowed, then choked out, “I’m _fine._ ” He stopped to wheeze. “Nothing wrong here-” he started and then stopped as he started to cough violently. Katara—who had barely said anything to Aang all morning, and Aang wasn’t really sure what he’d done, but fine, if she was going to be like that—snorted at her brother’s misfortune. Sokka had immediately made a big deal out of her ‘cruelty’, and the two had started squabbling.

Sometimes, Aang was glad that he was Gyatso’s _only_ ward. Siblings seemed far too complicated for a simple monk like him.

Later that morning, before he’d met up with some of the village girls that had wanted a ride on Appa, he’d tried the pastry that Sokka had struggled with, out of curiosity. It wasn’t bad— it was pretty good actually. It was a ginger-tart, with the ginger just strong enough that it left Aang’s tongue tingling. At the time, he’d shrugged, figuring that Sokka had just swallowed wrong, and scarfed the rest of the pastry.

But then the next time they’d gotten some authentic Earth Kingdom cuisine the scene had repeated itself. Again and again, Sokka’s face would turn bright red, and he would chug the nearest glass of water, then go back to the food like he had something to prove. Aang winced everytime he watched it happen, but he wasn’t really sure how to get Sokka to stop.


	3. III (Fire)

Fire Nation food? Now there's some spice. Fire Nation food is probably the ‘spiciest’ out of all the nations— it’s like they’ve managed to capture fire itself, and burn themselves with it for fun. Which, now that Aang thinks about it, is totally something that the Fire Nation would do with actual fire, so maybe he should be glad that it’s just a special type of pepper, not real fire.

Sokka and Katara had been entirely unprepared for the heat in the food. The first time they tried fire-flakes, at that festival before meeting Jeong-Jeong, Aang had watched them turn bright red, and chug the rest of their drinks. Aang laughed, and crunched another handful of the peppery chips, before making sure his friends were okay, and offering them some of the flatbread that the vendors served for more sensitive children.

Aang had only been prepared for the fire-flakes because he had Kuzon around when he first tried Fire Nation food. Kuzon, who introduced the peppers to him slowly and carefully, and who taught him the best ways to help soothe the burn if he overestimated his heat tolerance. It took a while, but eventually he built up a tolerance, and then they pranked the other air acolytes. He misses Kuzon with every step he takes in this new and strange and hostile Fire Nation.

During the time before the Eclipse, as they journeyed toward the rendezvous point, Aang found himself thankful that Kuzon had taught him how to soothe the burns caused by peppers—he’d needed to use that knowledge on his friends more often than he would have liked. Mainly on Sokka, who continually overestimated his heat tolerance. It didn’t help that Toph had been delighted to learn that Sokka didn’t do well with spice— she would challenge him to contests where they would both eat the spiciest food they had in their saddlebags. Sokka, who couldn’t back down from a challenge, always took her up on it. Aang looked away after the first few minutes every time they did it, unable to watch Sokka’s face become stained with tears that leaked from his eyes as he tried to win.

Toph has a higher heat tolerance than Sokka— she can eat ginger without crying. However, her parents never allowed her to have anything truly spicy, which means that she’s woefully underprepared for the food they find themselves eating on the road. Aang tried to help the first time she bit into more than more heat than she could chew, but Toph had waved him off, and stubbornly ate the rest of the meal, before stealing Katara’s bread to reduce the burn. She’s more stubborn than Sokka, and Aang spends most of his time trying not to pull his newly-grown-hair out.

The one of them with the most heat tolerance though? After he joins their little family, that’s Zuko. Aang, who falls after him on the spice-o-meter, is almost afraid of the ease with which Zuko eats food that should melt his face off.

It only makes sense though—he was raised eating the spiciest food the Fire Nation had to offer. Aang is just glad that Zuko has stayed out of Sokka and Toph’s little spice competitions, because he’d win easily— and Katara would probably wind up having to heal Sokka’s tongue from the capsaicin burns.

Zuko was banned from cooking for the group, after his first disastrous attempt at dinner. 

Katara, who had still been cold towards their new addition, had decided to have Zuko cook dinner for them. It’d been long enough that while she still didn’t trust him, she at least thought he wouldn’t poison them— as she’d sneered at the time, Zuko probably wanted to capture Aang alive, so what would be the point of poisoning them? Aang had been…  _ apprehensive  _ about Zuko cooking for the group, particularly with Sokka and Toph’s poor spice tolerance, but Zuko had worked at a tea-shop in Ba Sing Se, right? And maybe it would help Katara relax a bit about Zuko. Also, Aang did  _ not _ want to get in Katara’s way— she was kinda scary when it came to her hatred for Zuko.

Really, Katara’s plan had only one flaw, a flaw that was only realized upon sitting down to eat that evening. It was just as Aang had feared—Zuko had no handle on how much spice was too much for other nations.

"I told you to put in less spice!" 

"I did!"

“Look at Sokka! Does that  _ look _ like less spice to you?!”

Aang winced, and covered his ears. He’d already left the firepit, and climbed out onto one of the higher levels of the Air Temple. They’d been yelling at each other for what felt like hours already, while Katara healed the blisters on Sokka’s tongue from the peppers. Why had he sat by and let Zuko cook?  
  
Katara’s voice goes up another octave, and he winces. 

Oh. Right. That’s why.


	4. IV (Air)

After the war was over, and they could relax, Aang got to thinking. 

His new family had tried food all over the world, all different cuisines, had been introduced to all of the different varieties of spicy that the world offered. Except one. None of his friends had tried Air Nomad food, and their particular brand of spicy—he'd never made it for them, and it wasn’t like they would ever have had the opportunity to try it elsewhere—the only way to make it was through airbending. Aang swallowed, and closed his eyes for a second. He’d let his grief go, when he’d cleared his chakras, but sometimes he just felt  _ so alone _ .

So he decided that his friends would finally get the chance to experience the final element of spice. He couldn’t allow his culture to die out— he’d need to pass on everything he knew so that the Air Nomads could be remembered. Food was a part of that, and it was a great place to start. He’d missed his friends, since many of them, like Katara—and Sokka—had returned home, and this would be a way to bring them back together again. 

It took some time to get everyone back together again, but it was worth it in the end, as Aang triumphantly presented the bubbly drinks to them.  
  
Air Nomad spicy wasn’t like the spicy of any other nation, and not just because it only worked on beverages. You didn’t really _add_ anything to the drinks— instead, a bender would form lots of tiny bubbles in the drink, causing it to froth and foam. It was fun to drink, or at least Aang and Katara thought so.

Some of his other friends would disagree.

“Oh, god. It burns! My nose is on fire! How could a delicious drink betray me like this?” Sokka started to cough, spewing Katara with his drink. She wiped the mix of fruity drink, saliva, and snot off her face, and glared at her brother.

The dinner had quickly turned into a disaster after his friends took the drinks from him. Zuko and Toph had the bubbles go up their noses, Sokka had swallowed wrong, and nearly died, as proven by his choking and sputtering. 

At least Katara liked it, Aang thinks, as she smiles at him.


	5. V (Bonus)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bonus chapter, now that the main meat of the fic is done!

“Ack-argh!” 

Zuko coughs, and the nasty, sour liquid comes spewing out his nose. He wheezes, and he can feel his eyes tearing up. There is no stopping the tears, as the burning sensation in his nose doubles. He looks up, his eyes watering.

“How do you eat this?”

Sokka snorts from where he’s sitting across the table from him. He’s finished his first serving, practically inhaled it, and is heaping more food into his bowl.

“Practice.”


End file.
